On Wednesday February 25 around noon it started snowing. A couple of hours later huge, fluffy flakes were coming down. Nice snow that it was, it wasn't sticking to the streets. When we went out at 5pm it was still snowing and the roads were wet and bare. But what a difference a few hours make. Due to the wet, sloppy snow on the streets and the freezing temperatures the streets were very icy.
As we neared home we got stopped at a red light at the bottom of a hill. We watched a pick up truck a little ways up the hill in the bus stop pullout. His back up lights came on and off. Clearly he was spinning on ice. The light turned green and our Pontiac Vibe, front wheel drive, made a slow journey up the icy hill. No momentum at all, but at least we kept moving. On the down side of the hill, near the bottom there was a car in the curb lane, sideways, with its front wheels up over the sidewalk, obviously skidded out of control. We got around him safely and I hope nobody coming down that hill T-boned him.
This morning I went to work, on the same 2 lane highway, but in the opposite direction. The snow had stopped overnight but the streets were skating rinks. Both lanes of cars were moving slowly. I spun a bit on the ice, but at least I continued safely in the direction I wanted. I got stuck at the bottom of the hill at a red light again. Once again my car didn't want to go up the hill too fast, but it went. And I dodged around several cars who were stopped on the hill, just spinning their wheels. Has anyone ever heard of putting on winter tires? What are they going to do? Wait for the sun to come out and thaw out the streets and hope they don't get hit.
My 10 minute commute took me 25 minutes this morning. Roads that are ice skating rinks suck.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Lap top on the fritz
A few weeks ago I started having a little trouble with my lap top. Nothing too serious but getting some error messages about a software he'd recently installed for a web camera.
Then 2 weeks ago the lap top had trouble starting up. Half an hour, a couple of hours, sometimes I'd turn it on before going to work and by the time I got home 9 hours later it would be on. We took it in to be repaired and after 4 days the technician couldn't figure out what the problem is. Eventually the lap top would come on, usually faster if it was cold. He asked if it was still under warranty. Sadly its 2 years old and the warranty ran out about a year ago. $42 for them to look at it and still not know what's wrong. So I've left the lap top running for the past week I've had it back. I backed up my computer about 3 weeks ago so I knew if they had to reformat it I wouldn't lose anything other than some emails. But since I got the lap top back I went through the emails and saved anything necessary.
Now its a case of contacting HP and couriering the lap top back to them for repairs.
I'll be lost without it. I enjoy sitting in bed with it. I have a nice breakfast tray it sits on. I have my websites I view daily and surf them while watching TV. And my writing. I can't work on anything while the lpa top is out of commission.
But its getting close. Time to shut down and send it to HP.
Ah technology to make our lives simpler and we become slaves to it instead.
Then 2 weeks ago the lap top had trouble starting up. Half an hour, a couple of hours, sometimes I'd turn it on before going to work and by the time I got home 9 hours later it would be on. We took it in to be repaired and after 4 days the technician couldn't figure out what the problem is. Eventually the lap top would come on, usually faster if it was cold. He asked if it was still under warranty. Sadly its 2 years old and the warranty ran out about a year ago. $42 for them to look at it and still not know what's wrong. So I've left the lap top running for the past week I've had it back. I backed up my computer about 3 weeks ago so I knew if they had to reformat it I wouldn't lose anything other than some emails. But since I got the lap top back I went through the emails and saved anything necessary.
Now its a case of contacting HP and couriering the lap top back to them for repairs.
I'll be lost without it. I enjoy sitting in bed with it. I have a nice breakfast tray it sits on. I have my websites I view daily and surf them while watching TV. And my writing. I can't work on anything while the lpa top is out of commission.
But its getting close. Time to shut down and send it to HP.
Ah technology to make our lives simpler and we become slaves to it instead.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tea
My mother came from Scotland and was a big tea drinker. While growing up I was constantly putting a kettle on for her or pouring the boiling water into her old metal tea pot. We didn't have a meal called tea like they do in Britain. But during the times I visited my relatives in England I always enjoyed the later afternoon tea. Not that I liked drinking the hot tea, I just liked all the cakes, cookies, and other snacks that came with the drink. I especially liked going to a restaurant for a cream tea. That snack was crumpets, clotted cream, and strawberries.
Even when iced tea drink crystals came out in the late 60's, early 70's I never was a big fan. We had it in the house but I rarely drank it. By the late 70's and 80's I was buying and drinking iced tea made from the drink crystals on a regular basis, but I rarely drank hot tea. When we went out to restaurants I often ordered iced tea to drink, and that was the presweetened drink that usually came out of the same dispensers as the soda pop.
In the late 80's when I began travelling more often to California and Nevada and ordered iced tea with my meal, it came differently than what I was used to in Canada. It was real brewed tea and it was unsweetened. When it arrived at the table I could add sweetener or sugar to it. I began to prefer this over the pre-sweetened tea I got back home.
In 1994 we were in Arizona one winter and wandered into a shop. I saw an iced tea machine and called Kerry to come over and take a look. "Can you believe people would pay money for this" I asked. "All they have to do is boil water in their kettle, make tea, and then put ice cubes in it or put it in the fridge."
But a few years later I remembered that machine. Because now I'm thinking its a real pain to go through the hassle of making tea and then cooling it down so I can have iced tea. but I could find no such appliance in any of the stores I looked at in the Greater Vancouver Area. So I looked on Ebay and bought a used Mr Coffee Iced Tea machine. And then I was hooked. The machine brews the tea and then spits it out into the pitcher which we've filled with ice cubes. So that's the big secret! We made a lot of iced tea. We tried all kinds of different flavored herbal teas. But after all the use the handle came off the pitcher. Crazy Glue fixed that problem but to be cautious after the tea brewed into iced tea we poured it into a second pitcher.
In 2005 we were down in Washington one weekend and had dinner at Red Lobster. I asked for iced tea and the waiter asked if I wanted regular iced tea or Boston iced tea. I asked what the Boston iced tea is and he said it has cranberry juice. I ordered that and I was hooked. While down on that trip we bought a new Mr Coffee Iced Tea machine. And ever since then I've been stocking up on cranberry-raspberry juice that I add to the iced tea as sweetener. We make iced tea a lot, even through the winter months.
But an odd thing has happened. I've started drinking hot tea too. Not a lot and usually just when I have a sore throat. But maybe that's because its winter and old age is catching up to me....
Even when iced tea drink crystals came out in the late 60's, early 70's I never was a big fan. We had it in the house but I rarely drank it. By the late 70's and 80's I was buying and drinking iced tea made from the drink crystals on a regular basis, but I rarely drank hot tea. When we went out to restaurants I often ordered iced tea to drink, and that was the presweetened drink that usually came out of the same dispensers as the soda pop.
In the late 80's when I began travelling more often to California and Nevada and ordered iced tea with my meal, it came differently than what I was used to in Canada. It was real brewed tea and it was unsweetened. When it arrived at the table I could add sweetener or sugar to it. I began to prefer this over the pre-sweetened tea I got back home.
In 1994 we were in Arizona one winter and wandered into a shop. I saw an iced tea machine and called Kerry to come over and take a look. "Can you believe people would pay money for this" I asked. "All they have to do is boil water in their kettle, make tea, and then put ice cubes in it or put it in the fridge."
But a few years later I remembered that machine. Because now I'm thinking its a real pain to go through the hassle of making tea and then cooling it down so I can have iced tea. but I could find no such appliance in any of the stores I looked at in the Greater Vancouver Area. So I looked on Ebay and bought a used Mr Coffee Iced Tea machine. And then I was hooked. The machine brews the tea and then spits it out into the pitcher which we've filled with ice cubes. So that's the big secret! We made a lot of iced tea. We tried all kinds of different flavored herbal teas. But after all the use the handle came off the pitcher. Crazy Glue fixed that problem but to be cautious after the tea brewed into iced tea we poured it into a second pitcher.
In 2005 we were down in Washington one weekend and had dinner at Red Lobster. I asked for iced tea and the waiter asked if I wanted regular iced tea or Boston iced tea. I asked what the Boston iced tea is and he said it has cranberry juice. I ordered that and I was hooked. While down on that trip we bought a new Mr Coffee Iced Tea machine. And ever since then I've been stocking up on cranberry-raspberry juice that I add to the iced tea as sweetener. We make iced tea a lot, even through the winter months.
But an odd thing has happened. I've started drinking hot tea too. Not a lot and usually just when I have a sore throat. But maybe that's because its winter and old age is catching up to me....
Thursday, February 5, 2009
ABC Country Restaurant review
In mid-April 2004 we moved to Pitt Meadows. During the week we were moving in we went to lunch at a nearby restaurant on the Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge border called ABC Country Restaurant. We started with zuchinni strips that took a long time to arrive. When the waitress brought them over with 2 plates, the plate on the bottom was covered in wet ketchup. She quickly removed it and brought a clean plate. When lunch arrived, mine a shrimp sandwich with fries, there was brown grease on the plate. Kerry, who was eating a burger and fries, had the same brown grease on the plate. The general appearance of the sandwich was not good. Too much sauce and it was soggy. I don't believe any management was on premises. We heard a very loud and interesting conversation coming from the kitchen which is in the centre of the restaurant, about a party. Several staff were involved in the conversation, mostly male, at least one female. We were seated at a window, on the perimeter of the restaurant, so that gives you an idea of how loud the kitchen conversation was. When we returned to our car, we saw a man arrive who looked to be a manager, carrying several items into the restaurant, so hopefully things in the restaurant settled down after his arrival. He couldn't park worth a darn though, taking two spots near the entrance door to park his truck.
We were horrified with the experience. We prefer to dine in cleaner, quieter premises and said we'd never be back.
The ABC in Maple Ridge is not to be confused with good experiences we've had dining at the chains in Langley and the White Rock/South Surrey restaurant. Good food and quiet respectful atmosphere.
On February 4 we were over in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge and decided to give the ABC Country Restaurant another try because they were having a special for $22 - 2 entrees and a dessert.
We both ordered fish and chips. The waiter was a young man, probably in his late teens very quiet and unsure of himself. He took our order and stopped by several times to check on things even though we still hadn't received our food. There was another young man, a busboy, also appeared to be in training and hoping to be promoted to waiter who stopped by several times checking on us. Our food arrived. I ate a couple of chips and went to the fish. The batter was runny, not crisp. I asked Kerry to try his because he was still eating his chips. He also took a bite and declared the batter not cooked on his too. The assistant manager was near and we let her know it wasn't cooked enough. She was very apologetic and whisked both plates back to the kitchen. She returned a few moments later and told us we were getting two more fresh meals. And sure enough when the plates returned everything was fine.
The only other mishap was with the dessert. Our waiter put our order in but one of his co-workers swiped our dessert and took it to another table.
Now nothing that happened was the young waiter's fault. And the staff were good and resolved the issue immediately and thanked us for being so understanding.
I really think we won't be back. We should have learned from the first time.
And on the original complaint back in 2004, we advised the head office but didn't receive a response.
We were horrified with the experience. We prefer to dine in cleaner, quieter premises and said we'd never be back.
The ABC in Maple Ridge is not to be confused with good experiences we've had dining at the chains in Langley and the White Rock/South Surrey restaurant. Good food and quiet respectful atmosphere.
On February 4 we were over in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge and decided to give the ABC Country Restaurant another try because they were having a special for $22 - 2 entrees and a dessert.
We both ordered fish and chips. The waiter was a young man, probably in his late teens very quiet and unsure of himself. He took our order and stopped by several times to check on things even though we still hadn't received our food. There was another young man, a busboy, also appeared to be in training and hoping to be promoted to waiter who stopped by several times checking on us. Our food arrived. I ate a couple of chips and went to the fish. The batter was runny, not crisp. I asked Kerry to try his because he was still eating his chips. He also took a bite and declared the batter not cooked on his too. The assistant manager was near and we let her know it wasn't cooked enough. She was very apologetic and whisked both plates back to the kitchen. She returned a few moments later and told us we were getting two more fresh meals. And sure enough when the plates returned everything was fine.
The only other mishap was with the dessert. Our waiter put our order in but one of his co-workers swiped our dessert and took it to another table.
Now nothing that happened was the young waiter's fault. And the staff were good and resolved the issue immediately and thanked us for being so understanding.
I really think we won't be back. We should have learned from the first time.
And on the original complaint back in 2004, we advised the head office but didn't receive a response.
Monday, February 2, 2009
My old friend Cindy
My last post about walking to school got me to thinking about my old friend Cindy. Her father bought a small acreage and built a house on it that they moved into when I was about 8 years old. This was 2 doors over in a sparse neighborhood where there weren't many kids. So Cindy and I became good friends. We walked to and from school together, we were at each other's houses all the time, and often had sleepovers.
We grew apart in junior high. There were several elementary schools where the kids came to the junior high and a whole new crew of kids to become friends with. She hung out with the girls who were into sports and I hung out with the kids in my band class. We were still friends, just the closeness from being little girls was gone.
We went to different high schools because my parents bought a house in another part of town while renting out our old house that we eventually moved back to. I saw Cindy only a handful of times during high school. She was heavily into dating boys, and that wasn't my thing.
Cindy got married shortly after high school and I went to university out of town. Cindy and her husband rented the house next door to her parents, so I still saw her from time to time. I'd drop over for a visit when I was in town.
Then she moved and I didn't see her for the longest time.
One day when I was in my early 20's I was shopping at a mall in another part of town. I was heading to an escalator when I heard someone yell "Cheryl". I paused for a moment, then decided it was for someone else. I mean who could know me in this area. I continued and then I heard another yell: "Hey, Cheryl, wait up a minute." I stopped and turned and there was Cindy. We sat down for a bite to eat and got caught up. It was like no time had passed between us.
That was the last time I saw her.
In the 90's my parents moved to another house in a nearby community. Oddly enough their next door neighbors were related to Cindy's family. One of them was cousins with one of Cindy's parents. They were going to a wedding for Cindy's older sister, I believe her 2nd or 3rd marriage. But they caught me up on Cindy. She divorced her first husband and remarried. A man from California so she moved down there. I believe they said San Jose, but it may have been another community in the San Francisco area.
I've checked Facebook a few times but so far haven't caught up with her. But I know I will one day.
We grew apart in junior high. There were several elementary schools where the kids came to the junior high and a whole new crew of kids to become friends with. She hung out with the girls who were into sports and I hung out with the kids in my band class. We were still friends, just the closeness from being little girls was gone.
We went to different high schools because my parents bought a house in another part of town while renting out our old house that we eventually moved back to. I saw Cindy only a handful of times during high school. She was heavily into dating boys, and that wasn't my thing.
Cindy got married shortly after high school and I went to university out of town. Cindy and her husband rented the house next door to her parents, so I still saw her from time to time. I'd drop over for a visit when I was in town.
Then she moved and I didn't see her for the longest time.
One day when I was in my early 20's I was shopping at a mall in another part of town. I was heading to an escalator when I heard someone yell "Cheryl". I paused for a moment, then decided it was for someone else. I mean who could know me in this area. I continued and then I heard another yell: "Hey, Cheryl, wait up a minute." I stopped and turned and there was Cindy. We sat down for a bite to eat and got caught up. It was like no time had passed between us.
That was the last time I saw her.
In the 90's my parents moved to another house in a nearby community. Oddly enough their next door neighbors were related to Cindy's family. One of them was cousins with one of Cindy's parents. They were going to a wedding for Cindy's older sister, I believe her 2nd or 3rd marriage. But they caught me up on Cindy. She divorced her first husband and remarried. A man from California so she moved down there. I believe they said San Jose, but it may have been another community in the San Francisco area.
I've checked Facebook a few times but so far haven't caught up with her. But I know I will one day.
Walking to school
I walk my dogs each morning just after 7am. Almost daily I get passed by a young teenage boy -yes my dogs are dawdlers! He has a backpack on and is obviously headed up to high school. Lord Tweedsmuir is grade 8 - 12 and is about a mile away from where I live. I'm not exactly sure what time classes begin, but most of the schools in this area start around 8:45 am. Growing up this is the high school I should have attended, but my parents moved to another part of town for 2 years and I went to a different school than my friends. My high school was an anomaly and started classes at 8am, but the bright side was we were done for the day by 2pm.
I figure it takes a teen about 20 minutes to walk one mile, so that would put this boy at the high school around 7:30 each morning, over an hour before classes start. So what is he? Some kind of keener?
When I was in elementary school it was a one mile walk, and I walked it every day, and around here it rains a lot. We had one huge hill between our house and the school. Not so bad going to school, but a huge mountain on the way home. When I was in grade 3 a family moved in 2 doors down and Cindy was in the same grade as me. I'd stop at her house and we'd walk together to and from school. However she had a nice mother. When it was raining her mom drove so I'd be able to hitch a ride and stay relatively dry.
In junior high we walked together less often. Several elementary schools in the area all funnelled into this junior high and a new lot of friends was available for choosing. Cindy was very much a jock and hung out with the girls she was in sports with. I was in band and hung out with a less active crowd. But Cindy and I remained friends even though we didn't hang out as much any more and still walked to school together occasionally.
One odd thing is a friend of mine, Nicole, who lived down town, remember at the bottom of that big old hill that I no longer had to deal with once I got to junior high, said another girl from school, Linda, often stopped by her house to walk with her. But Linda would come to their house very early in the morning, once around 6:00 and woke them all up when she rang the door bell. Her father came downstairs and told her to come back later. One day a house burned down around 5:30 in the morning. And yes, Linda was up bright and early that day, same as most other days, and was able to report to us all the action. Linda was not a good student, nor did she have a lot of friends. I have no idea why she was such a keener to get to school so early in the morning.
I hated school. I was the type who walked in the door while the bell was ringing. I'll never understand the keeners.
I figure it takes a teen about 20 minutes to walk one mile, so that would put this boy at the high school around 7:30 each morning, over an hour before classes start. So what is he? Some kind of keener?
When I was in elementary school it was a one mile walk, and I walked it every day, and around here it rains a lot. We had one huge hill between our house and the school. Not so bad going to school, but a huge mountain on the way home. When I was in grade 3 a family moved in 2 doors down and Cindy was in the same grade as me. I'd stop at her house and we'd walk together to and from school. However she had a nice mother. When it was raining her mom drove so I'd be able to hitch a ride and stay relatively dry.
In junior high we walked together less often. Several elementary schools in the area all funnelled into this junior high and a new lot of friends was available for choosing. Cindy was very much a jock and hung out with the girls she was in sports with. I was in band and hung out with a less active crowd. But Cindy and I remained friends even though we didn't hang out as much any more and still walked to school together occasionally.
One odd thing is a friend of mine, Nicole, who lived down town, remember at the bottom of that big old hill that I no longer had to deal with once I got to junior high, said another girl from school, Linda, often stopped by her house to walk with her. But Linda would come to their house very early in the morning, once around 6:00 and woke them all up when she rang the door bell. Her father came downstairs and told her to come back later. One day a house burned down around 5:30 in the morning. And yes, Linda was up bright and early that day, same as most other days, and was able to report to us all the action. Linda was not a good student, nor did she have a lot of friends. I have no idea why she was such a keener to get to school so early in the morning.
I hated school. I was the type who walked in the door while the bell was ringing. I'll never understand the keeners.
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